We Can Do It! Dressing Mid-Century Vintage in a Casual Modern World

I meant to get this post written earlier in the week and now it is Wednesday and it is still swirling around in my brain.  Forgive me if this is scattered--we've had an almost never-ending round of stomach flu here since last week Monday.  But in the midst of all that fun, I managed to take a week's worth of outfit photos for this post.  I also included a few outfit photos from earlier in July for variety.

1940s vintage reproduction dress from My Baby Jo.

A few weeks ago I was chatting with a friend, and she was admiring my dress and my hair (a brushed out wet set of pin curls).  I told her how I'd found it on thredUP for a song, and said that it reminded me of a late 1930s tea dress.  I said I was happy that I could style it 1930s or 1940s, depending on my hair's mood.

She sighed and said,
"I wish I could do that."

A little later in the conversation (we were talking about fashion and knitting, mostly), I mentioned a 1930s hat I'd received as a birthday gift but not worn yet, and she smiled and said,

"You must have a lot of fun getting dressed."

I grinned and said, "Yes, I do!"

Snood/victory rolls, cardigan/camisole, vintage Alfred Dunner skirt (thrifted): vintage inspired.

That conversation, as well as many other similar ones I've had over the last 18 or so months of dressing in a vintage style made me think it was time to post a bit of an update, as well as to encourage anyone else who might be tempted to jump on the ol' bandwagon, so to speak.

Monday.

I started my vintage journey for a few reasons.  First was the feeling that modern fashions just didn't suit me.  I'm quite pear shaped and the modern silhouette just doesn't do me any favors.  I realized that my favorite dress was a thrifted rayon dress from the 1980s that was quite evocative of a mid-1940s tea dress.

The dress that started it all. Vintage Caroline Wells rayon 1980s dress.  It came with ugly pearlized buttons down the front that I replaced with vintage 1930s or 1940s era buttons from my great aunt's stash.

It made me feel viscerally connected to one of my favorite times in history.  And being something of an historian of the era (my background is primarily in mid-20th century Soviet history, but I have a strong background in European history as well), I love the fashion and styles as well.  I feel better about myself when I'm dressed in a vintage (or vintage inspired) style and playing around with different aspects of my look has been tremendously fun for me.

Let's pretend this was Tuesday; this was the day after the stomach flu hit me (I lost 6 pounds in 18 hours), so I was a little less than 100%

Summer demi-wedges, and one of three pairs I wear all summer.

I decided to focus my "look," so to speak, on the 1940s and 1950s, and have spent a lot of time sourcing clothing, thrifting, and reading tons of vintage fashion and sewing bloggers.  It has been great fun to learn so much about the industry and era.  I feel like I'm part of something and it gives me a piece of identity that is not all about diapers and breastfeeding and little people's needs.

First day of wet set.

That said, there have been some fashion hiccups, and a bit of a learning curve along the way.  Mid-century fashion was much dressier than the way most Americans dress day-to-day now, and I live in a particularly casual city. I don't want to feel that I'm putting on a costume every day--I just want to feel dressed and ready for the day.  Finding balance for daily wear took a bit of doing.  I was also less than a year postpartum when I started, and carrying about 25-30 pounds of extra weight from previous pregnancies.  Finding plus size vintage was a bit tricky, but I'm also not a purist, and was able to find some vintage reproduction clothing (eshakti.com, I love you), as well as some larger sizes of actual vintage clothing.  I also became familiar with silhouettes, and there is quite a lot of 1970s/1980s clothing that is strongly reminiscent of the 1940s, and tends to be more reasonably priced and sized larger.

Wednesday. Vintage dress, thrifted.  I'm not sure whether it is 1970s or late 1950s, but the fabric is some kind of nylon or polyester and it has a "It's a Lehigh!" union label.  It had a belt at one point, but is long gone. The style is 1940s reminiscent.

I also had to figure out what suited my style and my figure.  I did lose 20+ pounds last summer, but then became pregnant again (surprise!) and am now nursing, which has posed a whole new set of wardrobe issues this past year.  I felt I was able to adapt my maternity wardrobe to vintage styles fairly easily, but I'm finding that keeping my postpartum wardrobe nursing-friendly has been more difficult.  I don't have enough button down blouses that fit right now, and my pullover shirts don't look that great untucked, as they generally must be in order to nurse easily.

Thursday. Modern clothing, but evocative: fuller skirt with high waist, button down cardigan, plastic brooch, hair flower, day one of pin curl set.

I'm also still figuring out a few things about what I prefer in my clothing.  I know, for example, that stand up collars feel too fussy to me, and while I love the look of a shirtwaist dress, I don't love the way I feel while wearing one (i.e. frumpsville).  I made the recent discovery that the reason most pullover sweaters and cardigans drive me crazy is that the modern silhouette is boxy and falls below the waist onto the high hip, which isn't particularly flattering on me.  I look much better in a cropped, fitted style that hits at my waist.  I'm also coming to the sad conclusion that most full skirts just don't do me any favors.  I have two full skirts that I like a lot, but I can't really decide how well they suit me.  It doesn't help that I'm still carrying 10 pounds from this most recent pregnancy, and was far from done losing weight when I became pregnant last fall.

Friday. 1950s handmade cotton housedress.

With these things in mind, I've come up with a few tips for the vintage loving mama.

1. Just do it.  If you want to dress vintage, do it.  Feel your best in your clothing.  I hate the way I feel postpartum, and my clothing is usually a big part of it.  Nothing fits properly, everything feels wrong, I just want to scream!  I've still struggled this time, but I have also felt better in my clothes this summer than in any previous postpartum period.  That said, I'm officially bored of my summer clothing and ready for some fresh pieces.

Easy summer hair--rolls in the front, ponytail and scarf in the back.

2. Decide what works for your figure/skin tone/style preferences.  I discovered this summer, for example, that I prefer dresses in hot weather and separates in cold weather.  I have some summer separates, but I struggle to style them appropriately, and, with a few exceptions, they never seem to "feel" right to me.  Also, I have pale Irish skin and darkish hair, so there is a whole section of the color palette that just makes me look ghastly.  So even though I love the look of WWII era utility dresses, the drab gray and blue shades they were made in just don't flatter me at all.  I tend to look best in saturated jewel tones or bright colors, so I try to keep that in mind when I'm considering a purchase.

Dansko summer sandals.

3. Figure out what is realistic with your lifestyle and go for it.  Personally, I have four small children, and wearing pearls and heels just isn't realistic for me.  I've decided that my daily look is better served by simple day dresses, or even house dresses with clogs or brogues.  I don't have time for elaborate pin up hair styles (and they end up feeling too fussy and over styled for me anyway), so I've developed a handful of hair styles that I can easily put together from my lazy man's pin curl wet set, including the wet set itself.  I don't like wearing a lot of make up, and so I keep my routine very minimal--mascara, cream blush, lipstick, occasionally a dash of powder.  I'm also nursing full time right now, and so tend to steer toward surplice necklines, button down dresses, or peasant-style blouses that can be pulled down easily.

Saturday. Comfy vintage reproduction day dress.

4.  Find a style icon whose life is similar to yours for style inspiration.  If you are a mom of young children just trying to survive the day, find some photographs of ordinary women from whatever era you'd like to emulate and go from there.  Some of my best style inspiration has come from candid photos from the 1940s, or even from photographs of my grandparents, great aunts and uncles and other extended family.

Dansko sandals.

5.  Find some comfortable clothing for the days when life just happens.  I have found it is useful to have a modern knit dress or two with vintage fit and flare styling that can serve as my comfort wear (sweatpants in dress form, so to speak).  I don't need any shapewear to look good in these dresses, I can throw my hair in a headscarf backroll or even a full-on headscarf with rolled bangs and call it a day.  Sometimes just being evocative of an earlier era is enough to make you feel good about the way you look.

Easy backroll with lazy victory rolls on top.

6.  Surround yourself with vintage lovelies.  I have about 20 vintage fashion bloggers I read regularly, and I've pretty much stopped browsing modern clothing websites unless I'm looking for something super specific (like a cropped cardigan or modern shapewear).  Having mostly vintage ideas in your head will make it easier to style yourself without thinking about it.  A caveat: "old lady" clothing websites are sometimes treasure troves of vintage-styled clothing and shoes, but made with comfort in mind.

Dansko summer shoes (top view)

7.  Vintage styling is often in the details.  But those details don't need to take a lot of time.  I do my hair every day and I make a point to wear earrings and a brooch or necklace almost every day.  I try to keep my wardrobe small and simple so that the hardest choice I have to make in the morning is what brooch to pin to my dress.

Dansko summer shoes.

8. If you have time to brush your hair, you have time to do vintage.  I can generally get myself ready,
shower to door, in about 20-25 minutes.

Easy victory rolls, snood, done.  Five minutes or less.

9.  Keep it simple.  A handful of simple day dresses, a pair of comfortable clogs or flats (these were quite common in the 1940s, especially during the war), a headscarf or snood, some resin brooches and you're good to go!  I wet set my hair once a week, usually in the morning, wear it set all day, and then style it different ways for the rest of the week, usually relying on snood or scarf styles, ponytails or braids as the week wears on.  These are all perfectly appropriate vintage styles.  I may wear heels for special occasions, but stick to my danskos for every day wear.

Sunday. Resin brooch, earrings, vintage bead necklace, hair brushed and clipped back on the sides.

That's basically it!  I'm looking forward to fitting back into my slim wool skirts and knitted jumpers (hopefully) in the fall, and have gotten back into knitting for myself--oh the possibilities for vintage knits!!  I recently started sewing again as well, and am eager to conquer my sewing inexperience and previous frustrations to make some lovely vintage repro pieces to add to my wardrobe!  But even if you don't sew or knit or do anything crafty, you can wear vintage with confidence.  There are tons of great resources on the web (etsy.com and ebay.com are great places to source vintage or vintage reproduction clothing) and with some perseverance, there are deals to be had.